De Groot completes third Calendar Slam; Hewett, Schroder also triumph
The dynasty remained intact, and shows no signs of slowing down.
One hundred and twenty one consecutive times, Diede De Groot has rolled onto a tennis court to play a match. And every time, De Groot has been the victor.
De Groot has now won six US Open titles in a row, and 12 successive Grand Slam singles crowns.
After her 6-2 6-2 triumph over No.2 seed Yui Kamiji, de Groot was asked an obvious question: How does she stay motivated, when all she does is win?
“It's in those improvement points; I like to be challenged,” de Groot said. “The past two, three months I have been training with the guys at home. The same guys that play here in the men's division.
"It shows that I'm capable of a higher level. I really enjoy that. Even though I can't always beat them (smiling) sometimes I do, but it's very rare, but I'm challenged. They challenge me to push harder, to hit harder, to have higher percentages. That's what I really like at the moment.”
As long as she’s being challenged and motivated, it’s hard to imagine the De Groot victory train stopping anytime soon.
De Groot has now captured an unfathomable 37 Grand Slam titles, with 20 in singles and 17 in doubles.
The 26-year-old had won the last 11 major titles heading into Sunday, many of them over Kamiji, her closest rival, who gave De Groot her most recent defeat, in February 2021.
In winning her 20th singles title, de Groot relied on the same traits she’s used during her incredible streak: aggressive forehands, tenacious backhands, and the willingness to try shots that don’t look like they’re going to work, until they do.
Kamiji, currently the world No. 2 ranked women's singles player, pressed De Groot throughout the first set, breaking serve in the first game and sending several games to multiple deuces. The third game of the match saw six deuces, with De Groot finally holding serve to lead 2-1.
At 3-2 in the opening set, De Groot sent a smashing backhand down the line for a break, and she began to pull away.
“Of course it’s disappointing, when I’m trying very hard at home,” Kamiji said. “But I can learn a lot from this match, so I can be better. I can improve from today.”
In the second set it was again a very long game that set the tone; the second game took 8 minutes and 13 seonds, with De Groot finally breaking serve on a Kamiji double fault.
“Yeah, all of the games were tight,” De Groot said. “There were a few games, maybe 40-15, but the rest of the games were... all of them were tight. So I think that shows that Yui is always someone that you have to be so aware of.”
Kamiji hung in there, getting to within 3-2, but the inevitable happened as the 26-year-old Dutchwoman continued smacking groundstrokes past her 29-year-old foe.
On match point, Kamiji’s second serve hit the tape and fell back on her side. De Groot immediately smiled and pumped both fists in the air, then threw her arms over her head in celebration.
Winning major championships does not get old.
“It's one of those funny things where you sort of get used to the special feeling,” the woman nicknamed “Diede the Great” said. “I saw Coco Gauff win yesterday; the first time will always be the best one.
"So the special feeling or the excitement from it, it's a little bit less, but I know at this point what I do for it every day. I know at this point it's not just coincidence that I won just this one slam, I can do it over, over, over again.”
The men’s final, meanwhile, pitted Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid, both Brits, against each other and as has been the custom in this rivalry, Hewett came out on top.
Using a service break in the final game of the first set, and another in the sixth game of the second, Hewett captured the title, 6-4 6-3 at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Hewett captured his eighth singles major championship, to go along with 17 doubles titles, all won with his opponent on this day, Reid.
The 25-year-old Hewett smashed a forehand winner past his good mate on match point to set off his celebration. It was his fourth US Open singles crown.
“I don't think the performance was my best of the week,” Hewett said, smiling. “But, you know, sometimes you've just got to find a way to win. That was one of those matches where I did just that. When you're in a final you just want to get over the line, and obviously I did that today.”
Hewett and Reid, good friends, doubles partners and countrymen, were squaring off in a Slam singles final for the first time, after being upset in the semifinals in doubles here. It was also the fist time that two British players have contest at Grand Slam singles final in the Open Era - either in wheelchair or non-wheelchair competition
Hewett led 4-2 in Slams meetings, and Reid won the 2016 gold medal match in Rio at the Paralympics.
Reminded after the match that he gets to keep the US Open trophy for two years, since the Paris Paralympic dates clash with the final Grand Slam of the year in 2024, Hewett replied “I still prefer a gold medal though, any day (smiling).”
In the quad singles final, Sam Schroder and Niels Vink of the Netherlands, who won their third straight US Open doubles title on Saturday, faced off in the title match, and it was the No. 2 seed, Schroder who came out on top, 6-3 7-5.
Schroder trailed 4-2 in the second set before rallying for the triumph.
It was the fifth singles Slam crown for Schroder, and his 11th championship overall. Vink had won 18 of the 27 singles meetings with Schroder, and Vink won their latest Slam encounter, a three-set thriller at Roland Garros in June.
“I think the last couple of matches I lost to him I wasn't able to play at my highest level, and today I was,” Schroder said. “I was very motivated to finally get the win again. I won my first Grand Slam here in 2020, a couple years since then. I'm just really happy to be able to get it again.”